1) Rome's founding
a) Ancient legend thought in 753 BCE, twin brothers Romulus and Remus founded Rome.
b) Modern scholars believe in the 8th century BCE, the inhabitants of small Latin settlements on hills in the Tiber valley established a common meeting place around which Rome grew.
c) Rome did not became an important city-state until after being conquered and then tutored by the Estruscans.
d and e) ???
2) Estruscans
a) were a non-Indo-European people who probably came from Asia Minor
b) brought the first city-state civilization to Italy
c) organized the backward Italic peoples into a loose confederation of Etruscan- dominated city-states
d) some aspects of their culture were borrowed from Greek colonies in southern Italy
e) their alphabet can be read phonetcally but not understood
3) Imperium
a) Imperium was the king's executive power, both civil and military
b) Imperium was symbolized by an ax bound in a bundle of rods
c) Imperium was conferred by a popular assembly made up of all arms-bearing citizens.
(Sh.: I have no idea what that sentence means. I just copy.)
d) Imperium was transferred to two new magistrates, called consuls, after monarchy fell in 509 BCE.
e) ???
4) Republic
a) Can be divided into two periods: 509 - 133 BCE, the early republic, and 133 - 30 BCE, the late republic.
b) Established in 509 BCE when the patricians expelled the king, Tarquin the Proud, for acting despotically.
c) Monarchy was replaced with an oligarchy known as a republic (res publica, "commonwealth."
d) During the Early Republic, the two dominant themes were the constitutional change from oligarchy to democracy and the expansion of Rome.
e) During the Late Republic, the Republic failed to solve the problems that were the by- products of the the acquisition of the empire.
5) Roman classes
a) Plebeians were the lower class and struggled for political and ocial equality.
b) Patricians compromised and thus averted civil war.
c) One compromise was giving plebeians the right to establish the concilium plebis ("gathering of the plebeians"), presided over by plebeian leaders.
d) Other compromises included having laws written down and having the veto ("I forbid") power to stop unjust acts of the patrician consuls.
e) Marriages between the two classes, which had been banned in the Law of the Twelve Tables, was later legalized.
6) Roman Law
a) Law of the Twelve Tables, consisting of twelve bronze tables, was written and publicly displayed in 450 BCE and was the first time Roman law was written down. b) Laws were eventually passed allowing the right to appeal a death sentence
c) Equality between the two classes was achieved in 287 BCE when the concilium plebis was recognized as a constitutional body with the right to pass laws binding on patricians as well as plebeians.
d) After equality was legally achieved, the Republic was technically a democracy.
e) In practice, a senatoril olibarcy of patricians and rich plebes were elected to the highest offices.
7) Punic Wars
a) "Punic" comes from word "punicus," which is Latin for Phoenician.
b) First Punic War broke out in 264 BCE when Rome tried to oust a Carthaginian force that had occupied Messina.
c) Rome eventually won this war in 241 BCE and annexed Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica as a result.
d) The second Punic War began in 218 BCE when Rome declared war after its ally in Spain, Saguntum, was attacked by Hannibal.
e) The third Punic War began in 149 BCE when Roman besieged Carthage.
8) Hannibal
a) Hannibal was a Carthaginian general who fought against Rome in the second Punic War.
b) He led an army of about 40,000 men and 9000 calvary troops in 218 BCE across the Alps into Italy.
c) He defeated the Romans three times within three years, even though it cost him half his men and almost all the African elephants he brought.
d) He was always outnumbered and received little help from Carthate since Rome controlled the seas.
e) He spent fifteen years on Italian soil, but finally returned home in defeat in 201 BCE.
9) Tiberius Gracchus
a) He was an idealistic young aristocrat who, aware of Rome's social and economic problems, tried to introduce reforms.
b) He tried to restoring the "backbone" of the old Roman society--the small landowner.
c) He was elected tribune for the year 133 BCE at age 29.
d) He proposed that the act limiting the holding of public land to 320 acres per person be reenacted and that surplus land be given to landless Roman citizens.
e) He wanted to run for reelection, and partisians, fearing Tiberius Gracchus wanted to become king, murdered him and 300 of his followers.
10) Gaius Gracchus
a) He was Tiberius's younger brother, who took up his work after Tiberius's death.
b) He was elected tribune for 123 BCE.
c) He committed the government to protecting the poor against speculation in the grain market.
d) He was elected to a second term in 122 but defeated in 121 BCE.
e) The Senate declared martial law and arrested and executed 3000 of Gaius's followers, and Gaius committed suicide rather than be executed.
11) Marius vs. Sulla
a) Gaius Marius was elected consul in 107 BCE by capitalists and common people angry at the Senate, following Roman army defeats in North Africa and in southern Gaul.
b) Marius created a new Roman army, recruiting landless citizens to serve long terms.
c) Because these professional soldiers identified their interests with those of their commanders, they were not as loyal to the state as the old army had been.
d) In 88 BCE, the Senate ordered General Cornelius Sulla to fight the army of Pontus in Asia Minor, which had declared war on Rome.
e) The was the set-up for the first civil war between rival generals, which Sulla eventually won.
12) Pompey vs. Caesar
a) Pompey, a military leader, was elected consul in 70 BCE.
b) Julius Caesar allied himself politically with Pompey and was elected consul in 59 BCE.
c) Caesar spent nine years conquering Gaul (France), but remained popular by publishing a written account of his military feat.
d) Pompey was jealous of Caesar and, with the Senate's help, tried to ruin him.]
e) Caesar disobeyed the Senate's order to disband his army, thereby starting the second Civil War.
13) Caesar's Reforms
a) Following Caesar's victory and subsequent title of dictator for life, he granted citizenship to non-Italians.
b) He also packed the Senate with many new provincial members, making it more representative.
c) He reduced debts of the poorer citizens and started a public works program.
d) He also established colonies outide Italy and decreed one-third of the laborers in parts of Italy to be of free birth.
e) He also reformed the calendar, which, with minor changes, is still used today.
14) Antony vs. Octavian
a) Following Caesar's assassination, his 18-year-old grandnephew Octavian allied himself with Mark Antony, Caesar's chief lieutenant.
b) For more than ten years, Octavian and Antony exercised dictatorial power and divided the Roman world between them.
c) Antony married Cleopatra of Egypt and transferred Roman territories to her.
d) Octavian used this to arouse Rome and Italy against Antony.
e) The two sides went to war, wherein Antony committed suicide.
15) Augustus Caesar
a) Augustus, meaning "The Revered" was the title given to Octavian after his return to Rome in 27 BCE and gave the Senate considerable authority.
b) He ruled for 45 years but never again held the office of dictator and seldom was the consul.
c) He kept the power of a tribune and control of the army so he could not be challenged.
d) He concentrated on internal reform.
e) He greatly reduced the corruption and exploitation that had flourished in the late Republic and also established a permanent standing army.
16) Julio-Claudian Emperors
a) Four descendants of Augustus Caesar formed the Julio-Claudian line, which ruled from 14 to 68 CE.
b) The first two were Tiberius and Claudius, who were fairly efficient and devoted rules.
c) The others were Caligula, a madman who demanded to be worshiped as a god, and Nero, who was infamous for his immorality.
d) The line ended in 68 CE when Nero, who was declared a public enemy, committed suicide.
e) This line was followed by the Flavian dynasty for about thrity years.
17) "Five Good Emperors"
a) These were the Antonine emperors, who ruled from 96 to 180 CE.
b) Empire reached its height of prosperity and power under them.
c) They succeeded in "reconciling things long incompatible, supreme power and liberty."
d) Hadrian, one of the best, reigned from 117 to 138 CE, and stabilized the boundaries of the Empire.
e) Marcus Aurelius, the last of the five, ruled from 161 to 180 CE. He was a philosopher king who fought defensive wars.
18) Pax Romana
a) "Immense majesty of the Roman peace." Term coined by Pliny the Elder in the first century.
b) This described the Empire when it was in its finest period, stretching from Britain to the Euphrates and having more than 100 million people.
c) Even non-Romans were aware of the rich benefits of Roman rule at this time.
d) Began with Augustus and reached its height under the Five Good Emperors.
e) Created a cosmopolitan world-state where races and cultures intermingled freely, protected by secure borders.
19) Roman Contributions
a) Created a workable world-state and developed a skill in administration, law and practical affairs.
b) Engineering and architecture was advanced.
c) Roman sculpture was realistic, secular and individualistic
d) Epic, dramatic, and lyric poetry forms influenced medieval, Renaissance and modern culture.
e) Had utilitarian approach to science, offering free medical care if needed. Commercial break:
OK, we now return...
20) Diocletian
a) Soldier and administrator who accomplished reconstruction of the Empire.
b) He lived from 285 to 305.
c) He established oriental despotism.
d) He divided the Empire, retaining the more prosperous eastern half for himself.
e) He tried to arrest economic delay in the Empire.
21) Constantine
a) Civil War broke out after Diocletian retired and Constantine became emperor in 324.
b) He carried on Diocletian's work and was the first emperor to use the Christian religion to strengthen his position.
c) He legalized Christianity throughout the Empire in 313.
d) He issued decrees to ensure the production of essential goods and services as well as the collection of taxes.
e) To achieve this, he established a form of a caste system, wherein some people had to have the same job as his father.
22) Germanic Tribes
a) Western tribes, the Franks, Angles, and Saxons, had achieved a settled agricultural life.
b) Goths, Vandals, and Lombards were largely nomadic.
c) Both groups were less advanced than the Romans.
d) Each warrior leader had a retinue of followers who were linked to him by loyalty.
e) By the fourth century, the bulk of the Roman army and its generals in the West were German.
23) "Barbarian" Invasions
a) The Visigoths, out of fear of the Huns, petitioned the Romans in 376 to allow them to settle as allies inside the Empire.
b) Corrupt Roman officials cheated and mistreated the Visigoths, causing the Visigoths to go on a rampage.
c) After the death of Theodosius I, who had been able to hold back the Visigoths, the Visigoths began to migrate and pillage.
d) The Visigoths sacked Rome in 410.
e) Vandals pushed their way through Gaul to Spain and then into Africa.
24) The "Fall" of the West
a) Hastened as a series of incompetent emperors abandoned Rome and sought safety in Ravenna.
b) Orestes forced the Senate in 475 to elect his son Romulus Augustulus as emperor in the West.
c) Augustulus was deposed after another German commander, Odovacar, slew Orestes.
d) The "fall" is traditionally said to have occurred at this time, 476.
e) In actuality, the fall was gradual, although it was in 476 that emperors inaugurated by Augustus ended and German leaders began to rule.
25) Spread of Christianity
a) Eventually led to victory over Roman and German alike.
b) Older historians believed the rise of Christianity was the most significant cause of Rome's fall.
c) Theodosius I made Christianity the offical religion of the Empire.
d) Christianity and Judaism were the only religions that believed G-d was over all humanity.
e) Christianity upheld the equality of all people.
26) Church Organization
a) Began to emerge after people realized the Second Coming was not soon.
b) Earliest officials called presbyters (elders) or bishops (overseers).
c) Priests answered to bishops, who answered to an archbishop.
d) The bishop of Rome gradually became recognized as the leader of the church in the West and received the title Pope.
e) The Petrine theory held that Peter, leader of the apostles, was the first bishop of Rome and his authority over all Christians was handed down to his successors at Rome.
